settle down
Shangguan Zeyu only brought Xiao Yiqing back to the Prince's Mansion, while Wang Qianqian was thrown out onto the street by a servant.
Xiao Yiqing was filled with despair and grief. After returning to the palace, she locked herself in Peach Blossom Village. Shangguan Zeyu neither comforted her nor visited her again.
Time passed day by day, and before we knew it, it was time for the spring inspection tour.
The Spring Tour was the most grand festival of the Zhou Dynasty. A spring celebration ceremony was held on Zhou Mountain, the highest mountain in the southern suburbs of the capital, to pray for favorable weather and abundant harvests in the new year.
In previous years, the Emperor would hold this celebration ceremony, but this year, it will be held by Shangguan Zeyu.
Early that morning, Shangguan Zeyu led all the civil and military officials to Zhou Mountain.
The mountains around the city are lush and green, with abundant flowers and grasses in the forest. Birds flit happily back and forth among the branches, and every now and then one or two wild animals run from one side to the other.
Shangguan Zeyu walked at the front, followed by Zhang Qin, who was a step behind him, then princes and dukes from all sides, and finally civil and military officials.
Shangguan Zeyu's mood was neither good nor bad. He climbed the steps and walked for about two hours until he reached the highest peak of Zhou Mountain, Heming Peak. There, he worshipped heaven and earth and completed the Spring Festival ceremony.
As the princes, dukes, and officials performed the Spring Festival greetings, he walked along a side path.
By then, the sun had already risen, and rays of sunlight shone through the gaps between the leaves, creating dappled light and shadow that could easily dazzle the eyes.
Shangguan Zeyu was dazzled, for in a fleeting, hazy glance, he saw Jiang Yan waving at him. His heart pounded, and his feet moved erratically as he took two quick steps toward her. But when he blinked a couple of times and looked at her again, he found that the spot where she had been standing was now empty.
Shangguan Zeyu's heart instantly felt suffocated with loneliness.
He hurriedly ran towards where Jiang Yan was standing, frantically searching for her, but no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find any trace of her.
Clearly, Jiang Yan did not appear there.
Shangguan Zeyu's heart clenched uncontrollably. He stared painfully at the sunlight, imagining Jiang Yan walking out from there, waving and smiling at him.
Shangguan Zeyu couldn't understand why he was so infatuated with Jiang Yan. Even though he had only been with her for less than a year, he always felt that they had known each other for a very long time.
Moreover, he discovered that he didn't dislike her having ulterior motives at all; in fact, he quite hoped she would. He longed to see her use her ulterior motives; he found it very interesting.
Even when Xiao Yiqing and the others were scheming against her and bullying her, he secretly hoped that she would fight back and use the same methods they used against her to retaliate against them, because he vaguely felt that no matter what she did to them, she would not really blame her. Of course, this was not the case from the beginning, but by the time he realized it, it had already come to this.
He knew that it wasn't love at first sight, nor could it be considered love that grew over time, but he had a deep feeling that his love for her would grow stronger with the passage of time.
That wasn't an obsession or an obsession; it was as normal as eating, drinking, and breathing every day.
Shangguan Zeyu stood there in a daze for a long, long time before Zhang Qin slowly walked up and said, "Your Highness, the ceremony is almost over."
Shangguan Zeyu gave a soft "hmm," glanced longingly at the bright spot of the beam of light, and then went back.
Having experienced such a dreamlike event, Shangguan Zeyu was even more eager to see Jiang Yan. After returning to the capital and handing over his work, he prepared to go find Jiang Yan alone.
Zhang Qin wanted to follow him and protect him, but he refused, saying that the Prince's mansion could not be left unattended, and if a major event occurred in the capital, he would need to report to him.
Zhang Qin asked him when he could come back. He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then said that he would come back whenever he found "Liu Ruyi".
Zhang Qin really wanted to ask him, what if he couldn't find "Liu Ruyi"?
But then I thought again that people often live because of the beliefs in their hearts, so I didn't ask any more questions and reluctantly watched him go.
The evening after Shangguan Zeyu left was a particularly mild evening with a beautiful sunset.
Xiao Yiqing, having somehow heard the news, was frantic and confronted Zhang Qin, demanding, "Where did the Prince go? Why didn't you stop him? Why did you let him leave?"
Zhang Qin didn't know what to say. He suddenly felt that Xiao Yiqing was very pitiful and pathetic.
"I'm asking you a question! Where did the Prince go?" Xiao Yiqing probably already guessed, and she looked at Zhang Qin while tears streamed down her face.
Zhang Qin couldn't bear to look at her for a second and said, "Please take care, Your Highness." Then he quickly left, even though Xiao Yiqing kept crying and calling out to him from behind, he didn't stop for a moment.
Jiang Yan and Huang Ying traveled for a while and finally arrived at a place with mountains and water, where they decided to settle down and stop their wandering.
This place with mountains and water is called Taizi Town. Why is it called "Taizi Town"? It is said that a prince of the previous dynasty once traveled here incognito. He was so pleased with the beautiful scenery that he named it "Taizi Town," and the name has been used ever since.
Jiang Yan thought that although the town was remote, it was prosperous, and because of the visit of the former dynasty's "crown prince", the security here had always been very good. Therefore, she and Huang Ying chose to settle here, which would not only be safe, but also prevent them from being lonely.
With this decision made, Jiang Yan and Huang Ying began discussing the purchase of the house.
Taizi Town has many shops, restaurants, and dance halls, so most of the houses on the streets are four or five stories high and are used for commercial purposes, which is very inconvenient. Moreover, because of the constant flow of merchants and the chaotic crowds, it was really unsafe for the two women to live there. Therefore, they did not buy a house in the market, but instead went to a village not far from the market to buy a house.
Although it's called a village, perhaps because the people here have a high level of economic development, the houses aren't the traditional low-lying farmhouses, but rather the kind of courtyard houses with yards and walls that merchants used to live in.
The house was not only grand in appearance, but also had a unique layout and structure with artistic elements, making it instantly appealing.
Jiang Yan bought a house that wasn't very big, but had a small stream in front of it.
Of course, this would make the house more expensive than a house without a stream in front of it, but Jiang Yan felt it was worth it because with a stream, the scenery they saw would be much more beautiful than that of people whose houses didn't have a stream in front of them, whether it was spring, summer, autumn, or winter.
After Jiang Yan bought the house, she and Huang Ying began to furnish it. Since they had no source of income, although they had a hundred taels of silver notes left by Wu Lanyu and a few pieces of jewelry that Huang Ying had taken with her when she left the Chen residence, they dared not spend them recklessly, for fear that they would be destitute again if they ran out of money.
Jiang Yan and Huang Ying only bought six or seven plates and bowls, three or four quilts, and some other daily necessities, and didn't plan to buy anything else.
Considering that they were both women and there were no men in the house, they were afraid of encountering thieves or bad people. Although the owner who bought the house said that the area was very safe and that no one would come in to steal anything even if they left the door open at night, Jiang Yan and Huang Ying still felt unsafe. So they bought a puppy, and then, feeling that a dog was lonely, they bought a cat. Then, feeling that the cat was lonely, they bought two chickens, a rooster and a hen, before they felt at ease.
Then, after tidying up a small vegetable garden and flower garden and planting vegetables and flowers, this settled life officially began.
Jiang Yan can't cook. Actually, she can cook some simple meals, but she doesn't want to eat them again after just one time. So Huang Ying does all the cooking, while Jiang Yan prepares the ingredients.
Huang Ying's cooking is indeed delicious, and she cooks with great skill. No matter how complicated the dish is, she makes it very simple, easy, and quick to prepare.
On this day, the spring breeze was gentle and the sun was soft. After lunch, Jiang Yan and Huang Ying sat in the courtyard basking in the sun. Jiang Yan said, "What kind of business do you think we should start? Open a restaurant? Sell jewelry? Sell clothes? Or sell fabric? We need to start thinking about our future. Otherwise, if we live such a comfortable life for too long, I'm afraid I'll become too lazy to do anything."
Huang Ying opened her eyes, looked into the distance, and said, "Sister, how about we sell clothes?"
"What are your thoughts?" Jiang Yan immediately became interested, turned to look at her.
"Sister, we don't know anyone here. Opening a restaurant or selling fabrics will definitely be more difficult, but selling clothes will be easier."
Jiang Yan thought selling clothes was also difficult, and asked, "How can it be easy? Isn't it the same?"
Huang Ying smiled and said, "Sister, have you noticed that the women here are all wearing very old-fashioned clothes? If we make clothes with novel designs, they will definitely come and buy them."
Jiang Yan felt it was still difficult because, in her eyes, the clothes worn by these ancient people were all the same, with no particular style to speak of, only simple and complex.
"Alright, Huang Ying, you'd better explain it to me properly, otherwise I won't understand," Jiang Yan said with a smile.
Huang Ying said, "Sister, I made most of the young lady's clothes by hand. I've memorized some of the styles. When the time comes, I'll combine the old and new styles and match them. The clothes made this way will definitely look better than the old styles. Women love beauty, so our business should be doing well."
Jiang Yan has read many books, but her business acumen is practically nonexistent. She'd only ever heard of tailoring, never actually seen it done, so she said, "Huang Ying, your idea is indeed good, but the problem is... I don't understand it! I don't know anything about it and can't help. So, should we consider something else?"
Huang Ying smiled gently: "Sister, you don't need to worry about that, I already have a plan."
Jiang Yan was somewhat surprised and asked in surprise, "What idea?"
"Sister, I'll make one or two samples and take them to the market to sell. If there are many people interested, we can find local embroiderers to help us and pay them wages. What do you think, sister?"
The principle is sound, but putting it into practice...
"Yes! You make a good point, I think it will work, let's do it!"
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